Birthday Dinner

We had our friends over for a belated birthday dinner.  Cody had spent all week learning to weld and made a fire pit / grill.  It was fabulous and such a fun thing to have for the night.  He grilled fajitas and we all ate way too much.  It was such a fabulous night.  The women sat around and talked for hours while the guys did the same thing around the fire pit.  I can't even remember all the things we talked about all night, babies, pregnancy, school, crazy friends, etc.  I think I laughed more than I have in a long time.  I love each of these girls so much.  It's weird to think I've known most of them less than 2 years.  It's even better that all the guys get along too.  It makes getting together so much more fun!  After dinner and drinks and hours of talking, we had smores outside over the fire.  I don't think I'll ever get too old for smores.  We had the best night and I am so thankful for girlfriends.  They finally had to get home to relieve babysitters.  But we got a picture before leaving.  Sadly, it took 15 takes and I don't know that any of them all the perfect one.  At least our husbands know that we will need 15 pictures to find the right one.  Best night in awhile.

Gymnastics Awards

Harper's gymnastics class gives out awards three times a year.  It is mostly just a chance for parents to see their kids in class and see what they are progressing in.  She had her normal class and then the parents got to go into the gym for the last 10 minutes.  We got to watch them do stations: rings, parallel bars, low bar, and mat time.  Then, they each got called up to the front and got an award.  Harper got a ribbon for completing Level 1 bar.  I'm not sure what else there is, beam, mat, rings, etc. But she wants to complete Level 1 so she can get an award instead of just a ribbon.  Her friend, Reagan, is on Level 2 because she was in this class last year.  It's so interesting to see how much they can learn in a year.  Her teacher, Ms. Emily, said that they are mostly learning to strengthen their core, abs, back, etc.  Then, they learn the basics of gymnastics.  Either way, she had a great time and she was very happy.  They even got to get up on the podium afterwards to play around.  These girls all have the best time together!

Showering the Bride!

Kara and Kevin's wedding is coming up so the wedding festivities are starting.  Kevin had a boys weekend at a lakehouse in October, but I didn't get any pictures or stories from that one, obviously.  Then, both had bachelor and bachelorette parties in November in Austin.  Since Cody already went to one, I got to go to Kara's and he stayed home and watched the girls.  It was my first weekend away pretty much ever and my first time away from Paige.  As crazy as it sounds, it was still so hard!  I cried on the way down and almost wished I hadn't gone.  But it was a great weekend and so good for me.  Cody and the girls had a great weekend.  They played and went shopping at Academy and were perfectly fine.  The sad part is I am pretty sure I got way less sleep than if I'd stayed home, which was one of the few things I was seriously looking forward to.  But it was worth it!  Cheers to Kevin and Kara!

I left Friday after Cody got home from school and tried to get through Dallas traffic as quickly as possible.  I made it to Georgetown and met the girls at dinner.  We sat and chatted and got to know each other.  The best part of the weekend was getting to know the other bridesmaids and meeting all the wonderful people that are in Kara's life.  After dinner, we headed back to Kara's parents' house to have her lingerie shower.  That was one of the funniest showers I had been to.  Kara, so sweet, loved every piece, from simple and traditional to crazy and scandalous.  It was the best time just laughing and celebrating the bride to be.  

After the shower, we all found beds and got into pjs.  I've missed bedtime and bedtalk with my roomies and I'm lucky I got to have one more night.  Even if it was stinky from dogs.  We got up around 8 am, which was still early since we went to bed after 1am.  But we had plans!  We had coffee and breakfast tacos and got ready for a scavenger hunt in Austin.  It was drizzley and cool but we were still super excited!  Our first stop was Top Golf, which is one of Kevin's favorite places.  We all chatted and traded places hitting balls.  A few girls were good and the rest of us just enjoyed hitting it off the tee.  I finally hit a few towards the end and ended up liking it way more than I thought.  I sent this picture to Cody and he, nicely, let me know that my grip was off.  Good thing he's a good teacher.

After that, we headed to this adorable, hole in the wall, Italian restaurant off Congress (Kevin's favorite food).  It was super good and I ate way more than I ever do for lunch.  I honestly don't even know how long we sat there, but we just ate and drank coffees and talked for the afternoon.  As we were leaving I saw that one of the Short Buses was parked right across the street.  Neither of my brothers was actually working, but I couldn't help but go and say hi.  Miss and love them and so proud of them.  Plus, they are catering lunch for the bridal party on the wedding day.  The last stop of the scavenger hunt was going to an outdoor bar and patio to watch a bit of the UT game.  Kara's surprise waiting there for her was Kevin with his bachelor party.  So we got to meet the groomsmen and get to know a few of Kevin's friends.  Some of the opposite parties hadn't met Kara or Kevin, so it was a good time for everyone to meet and get to know each other.  We had a beer, watched some good football and then headed back to Georgetown for dinner. 

I left for home that night and made it in good time.  I even stopped and picked up kolaches for everyone because it's just a must.  It was a fabulous weekend and I loved getting to celebrate Kara!